The failures by Kirklees Council social workers sound horribly reminiscent of those in Haringey. Following the horrendous abuse of Shannon Matthews, Trevor Kavanagh writes in The Sun this morning: "What we are witnessing is a stream of evidence that local authorities are remote, unaccountable and corrupt."

The warnings were there but were ignored. A report in The Times says that Shannon’s former head mistress went "absolutely ballistic" when the authorities claimed they had not been warned by the school. She was able to document repeated warnings. They had been repeated warnings from neighbours. A BBC Panorma report showed that Shannon was removed from the at risk register despite a warning from a psychological report commissioned by social workers that Shannon mother seemed "unable to place the children’s needs above her own."

Kirklees Council has decided to hold an "independent review" from the Kirklees Safeguarding Children Board.